A total of 10,718,854 passengers traveled through the Austin–Bergstrom International Airport in 2014.[3] The airport is now the 36th busiest airport for total passengers in the United States.[4] Annual passenger total in 2013 increased by 7%, or 700,896 passengers, from the previous record year of 2013. 2014 also saw the addition of British Airways' new route to London Heathrow beginning in March 2014, Austin's first transatlantic service.

Currently, there are over 150 daily departures to 47 destinations in the U.S., Mexico, and United Kingdom, with Air Canada restarting service to Toronto, Canada in May 2015.[5] The airport began passenger service on Sunday, May 23, 1999.[6]

The city began considering options for a new airport as early as 1971, when the Federal Aviation Administration proposed that Austin and San Antonio build a joint regional airport. That idea was rejected, as few Austinites supported driving half way to San Antonio to catch a flight. In the 1980s, neighborhoods around Mueller applied enough political pressure to force the city council to choose a site for a new airport from locations under consideration. In November 1987, voters approved a referendum designating a site near Manor. The city began acquiring the land and fighting lawsuits from the Sierra Club and others concerned about the Manor location.[7] The plans to construct a new airport at the Manor location were abandoned in 1991 when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure, and gave the nod to the city for it to be used as a civilian airport.

The first officially sanctioned landing field in Austin was Penn Field. At the Chamber of Commerce's behest, a United States Army delegation came to Austin in 1917 to scout out suitable sites for an airfield to serve the region. After the initial suggestion of Camp Mabry was rejected, a 318-acre (1.29 km2) parcel of land just south of St. Edward's University in South Austin was deemed suitable. Penn Field opened in 1918, named after Austin aviator Eugene Doak Penn, who died while training in Italy during World War I.[8]

As the need for commercial service became clear in the 1920s, Austin voters supported a bond election to build a municipal airport in the city in 1928. Located a few miles northeast of downtown, the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport served Austin's air traffic needs beginning October 14, 1930, although commercial service would not begin until 1936. The airport was named for Robert Mueller, a city council member who died in 1927.[9]

In the 1950s, developers began building residential areas beneath the flight paths of Mueller and, in parallel, the number of arrivals and departures at the airport increased dramatically because of the growth of the city. Also, at 7,269 feet (2,216 m), the runway at Mueller was too short to handle new planes such as the 747. However, larger aircraft such as American Airlines DC-10s and Continental Airlines Boeing 720s have been regularly scheduled in the past. Before major expansion at Mueller took place in the 1970s, the departure area consisted of 4 to 5 gates, not enclosed but covered by a large awning. No jetways existed at this time.[10]

Mueller's longest runway was 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and by the late 1990s, the passenger terminal was operating at full capacity with 16 gates.

Robert Mueller Airport remained open for general aviation use through June 22, 1999, at which point it was closed to passenger traffic indefinitely. The 711 acres (288 ha) site of Mueller Airport was eventually designated to be a mixed-used development that would come to be known as the Mueller Community.

In 1942, the city of Austin purchased land and donated the land to the United States government for a military installation, with the stipulation that the city would get the land back when the government no longer needed it. This land became Bergstrom Air Force Base. Del Valle Airfield was activated on September 19, 1942 on 3,000 acres (12 km2) leased from the City of Austin. The name of the base was changed to Bergstrom Army Airfield (AAF) in March 1943, in honor of Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, a reservist in the 19th Bombardment Group, who was killed at Clark Field, Philippines in 1941. He was the first Austinite killed in World War II. With the separation of the United States Air Force and United States Army in September 1947, the name again changed to Bergstrom Air Force Base. It would have this name until it was decommissioned in the early 1990s, with all military aviation ceasing in 1995, after more than 50 years.[2]

In the early stages of exploring options for a new airport, the city submitted a proposal to the United States Air Force for joint use of Bergstrom AFB in 1976. The Air Force rejected the proposal in 1978 as being too disruptive to its operations. In 1991, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure and gave the nod to the city for it to be used as a civilian airport. The city council decided to abandon the original plan to build the new airport near Manor, and resolved instead to move the airport to the Bergstrom site. The City of Austin hired John Almond—a civil engineer who had recently led the airport design team for the new airport expansion in San Jose, California—as Project Director for the new $585 million airport in Austin and to put together a team of engineers and contractors to accomplish the task.[11]

The issue of a $400 million bond referendum for a new airport owned and operated by the city was put to a public vote in May 1993 with a campaign managed by local public affairs consultant Don Martin and then-Mayor Bruce Todd and was approved by 63% of the vote. Groundbreaking for the new airport began in November 1994.[12]

Austin–Bergstrom International Airport opened to the public on May 23, 1999 with a 12,250 feet (3,730 m) runway, among the nation's longest commercial runways. There are 25 gates within the 660,000 square feet (61,000 m2) Barbara Jordan passenger terminal, which is designed for eventual expansion to 52 gates (and beyond with satellite concourses). Originally conceived as an 18-gate terminal facility with a footprint of a bit more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2), ABIA was expanded during construction to incorporate six additional gates for a total of 25 gates with a footprint of 660,000 sqft.[13]

Bergstrom had the designator BSM until Mueller's final closure in 1999, when it took Mueller's IATA code of AUS.[14]

Because the airport was built in the area in proximity to the high school and three elementary schools of the Del Valle Independent School District, voters approved a $38.1 million bond to build the schools in a new location.[15] Baty Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Popham Elementary, and Del Valle High School moved.[16]

Barbara Jordan Terminal was designed by the Austin firm of Page Southerland Page with associate architect Gensler under contract to the New Airport Project Team, with lead architect University of Texas at Austin Architecture professor Larry Speck.[17] The terminal is 660,000 square feet (61,000 m2) with a total of 25 gates, two of which can be used for international arrivals. A newly built customs and immigration facility on the first level, which opened on December 15, 2014, can process more than 600 passengers per hour.[18] While there are several restaurants and food concessions inside the terminal, all but two are located inside the secured gate areas of the terminal.[19] The terminal also has a live music stage on which local bands perform in keeping with the spirit of Austin's proclamation as "The Live Music Capital of the World." The terminal is connected to a 3000 space parking garage used for public parking as well as rental car pick-up and return.

A consolidated rental car facility is under construction (anticipated completion in 2015) that will move counter, pick up, and drop off facilities to a new 900 space structure adjacent to the existing parking garage, allowing currently utilized spaces to be converted to additional close-in short term parking. A second improvement project is a 50,000 square foot addition—the East Terminal Infill—to the terminal that will increase the number of security checkpoints for departing passengers on the upper level, scheduled to open in summer 2015. As the airport continues to see constant and rapid growth, a new seven gate expansion is set to break ground in 2015, on the east side of the terminal where the international gates are currently located.[20]

A new dedicated facility known as the South Terminal Austin was approved by the Austin City Council in order to accommodate the arrival of Mexican-based, low-cost airline, VivaAerobus, which launched operations on May 1, 2008. This terminal had three gates without airbridges—passengers walked to the aircraft at parking stands and boarded by stairs. The South Terminal was closed on June 1, 2009, after VivaAerobus terminated service to the US due to an epidemic of swine flu in Mexico that resulted in high cancellation and no-show rates. While VivaAerobus has since resumed US service, it has not expressed interest in returning to Austin. The terminal is not currently in use and has been put up for sale by its operator.[21][22]

Runway 17R/35L, to the west of the terminal, is the original runway built and used by the Air Force. The 12,248-foot-long (3,733 m) runway was reconditioned when Austin–Bergstrom was built. The 23-inch-deep (580 mm) concrete runway is dedicated to former President Lyndon B. Johnson.[23]

Runway 17L/35R is a new 9,000 foot (2,700 m) runway on the east side of the terminal and parallel with runway 17R/35L. This runway is dedicated to former Congressman J. J. "Jake" Pickle.[23] This runway contains a Category IIIB instrument landing system, the first in Austin.

The runways are watched over by a 227 foot tall air traffic control tower.[24] The tower formerly used by the Air Force has been demolished.

Currently Southwest Airlines is the airline flying with the most passengers out of ABIA. In 2014, Southwest flew a total of 4,001,663. American Airlines combined with merger partner US Airways flew a total of 2,417,567 passengers and United flew a total of 1,779,561, with Delta, Jetblue, Frontier Airlines and Alaska Airlines also carrying a significant number of passengers in 2013. New carriers in 2014 included British Airways and Texas Sky. A new customs facility was completed in December 2014 to help accommodate the recent growth in international travelers.[33]

While ABIA opened to passenger traffic in 1999, cargo operations began two years earlier in 1997. 2014 air cargo totaled 155,440,494 lbs., down 2% compared to 2013. International air cargo totaled 20,077,590 lbs., up 57.5% and belly freight totaled 16.9 million lbs., up 99.5%. Federal Express carried 91 million lbs., down 12%; and United Parcel Service carried 30 million lbs., down 1%.[36] The Austin area is served by the cargo carriers Baron Aviation Services, FedEx Express, UPS Airlines and DHL Aviation.[37] The arrival of British Airways at ABIA in 2014 has been credited with reinvigorating international cargo traffic at ABIA, with international cargo expanding over 200% in the flight's first month of operation.[38] International cargo rates for January–June 2014 showed an 87% increase over the same period in 2013.[39]